From: "G-Dawg" 
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Property Dispute - Encroacher won't accept easement!
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:12:13 -0400
Bytes: 4605

Hello everyone,

Strange case here... I live out in the "country". We have two acres, the
minimum size lot required for the town. My neighbor's driveway pad is almost
entirely over onto my property. She has approx. 10 feet to get into her end
open double garage.

This encroachment is about 25 feet in the air onto of ledge (she lives at
the top of a hill). We had a survey done to establish a property line so we
could put up a shed. As well as the driveway, turns out her leach fields
were on our property as well. She has since moved her leach fields. We have
been chewing on this property line issue for the past 5 years...

Neighbor is hell bent on a land swap... A triangle for a triangle. Turns out
there are all sorts of costs involved in the land swap between clearing
mortgages, etc. We are now seeling our house and time is up.

We sent the neighbor a letter a long while ago giving her permission to use
the portion of the driveway on our property to access her garage. Now that
the house is for sale, lawyers say we have to have an official easement
filed with the town. My lawyer drew up the easement and all is good, except
my neighbor will not accept the easement allowing her to use her driveway!

Does that make any sense??? Her lwayer told her to agree to the easement,
she wouldn't so he quit. My lawyer went to her house to talk so sense with
her, she still wants the land swap.

I have done some google searches on what to do about easements and all I
have found are the encroaching folks trying to get an easement from the land
owner. Not the land owner trying to get the encroacher to accept the
easement.

Ridiculous! What's even more ridiculous is that now we have left a voicemail
on her answering machine (she won't talk to us), telling her that since she
does not accept the easement that she does not have permission to trespass
on our property. I also advised her that a fence would be constructed to
protect our property for liabilities sake and that she should move her
vehicles so that she does not become blocked in her garage or driveway.

Now I go out and buy some steel cable, some white PVC pipe (to make the
cable more visible), and five "No Hunting/No Trespassing" signs... We are
going to hook one end of the cable to a big tree at the line and hook the
other to a steel pipe, all on our side of the line, but still cutting off
all the usefule area of the pad of her driveway. She will not be able to get
in or out of her garage, she will have to park on the hill of the driveway
leading up to the main driveway.

We will be calling the police for a "standby" to have her move her vehicles
if she is still parked there. The property line is not in dispute. She knows
the property is ours, we know it is ours, the surveyor stakes are there...
She just won't accept the easement because she is hell bent on a land swap.

I feel like a heel but it has come to this... But what am I supposed to
do??? I own the land the person is encroaching on... I have all the cards...
Why does this person think she can be a squeaky wheel and have everyone
satisfy her wants. She's the trespasser, she has no rights (adverse
possession not an issue here). I believe a court would order that we allow
her the easement to get to her garage, we are! She won't "accept" it! I have
no more hair left to pull out!

Also, we have title insurance purchased at the time we built the house, if
that will do anything for me. I have consulted with two lawyers and both are
kind of wishy washy with the advice.

We live in Connecticut, if that changes anything at all.

Thanks for any advice!
Frustrated "for sale" property owner.